Reputation
by badly-knitted
Summary: Dee has a reputation for being a hothead and a loose cannon. Written for Challenge 7: Duran Duran Song Titles at ficlet zone, using 'Hothead'. Set after Vol. 7.


**Title:** Reputation

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Dee, Ryo, OMC.

 **Rating:** PG

 **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

 **Summary:** Dee has a reputation for being a hothead and a loose cannon.

 **Word Count:** 1065

 **Content Notes:** None needed.

 **Written For:** Challenge 7: Duran Duran Song Titles at ficlet_zone, using 'Hothead'.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

.

Dee has a reputation for being a loose cannon, which is hardly surprising. He knows full well he can be a bit of a hothead, which is probably not ideal considering his line of work. He's prone to rushing in at times when it would be more sensible to use a degree of caution, and he loses his temper quickly with the jerks it's his job to arrest. Honestly he doesn't feel anyone should blame him for that; he works serious crimes, murders, physical and sexual assaults, kidnappings, child molestation… Surely anyone with an ounce of humanity would understand and forgive him for losing his cool with the monsters who do that kind of stuff.

He knows Ryo gets angry too, but most of the time his partner keeps a better grip on his temper than Dee has ever been able to, and doesn't need to be restrained to keep him from punching some sonofabitch's lights out. That's not to say Ryo wouldn't do just that if some abusive bastard gave him an excuse to; if somebody attacks you it's only natural to defend yourself. He just doesn't want to jeopardise any of their cases because of a charge of police brutality being levelled at one, or both, of them. Neither does Dee; as satisfying as it would feel to beat some of the scumbags they arrest to a pulp, putting them behind bars for a good long time is more important. If they get off on a technicality they could be right back out on the street committing more violent crimes before either detective could blink. That wouldn't be good for Dee and Ryo's careers, or for the people they're supposed to be protecting.

In some cases however, displaying a willingness to do violence on a suspect can prove quite effective at taking the wind out of their sails. Their current target, a muscle-bound lout they know for a fact beat a storekeeper into a coma for a few measly bucks and some cigarettes, is currently backed up against a wall and looking like he's about to bolt, gauging the distance to his closest escape route.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," Ryo says calmly. "My partner is a bit of a hothead; he's got a notoriously twitchy trigger finger too, his gun might just… accidentally go off if you don't keep still."

"You wouldn't shoot me; I'm unarmed." The lout is supremely confident, convinced all he has to do is dart to his left and he'll be out of sight. He knows this part of the city like the back of his hand, has a dozen places he can hole up where he's sure the pigs will never find him.

The bullet hits the wall barely six inches to the left of his head, lodging in the mortar between bricks. "Oops," says Dee, trying no to smirk at the expression of sheer terror on the other guy's face. "Hair trigger on this thing; all it takes is the slightest twitch and… BANG!"

"You missed him," Ryo points out mildly.

"Yeah, well." Dee shrugs, unconcerned. "You know me; I'm always better with a moving target." He cocks an eyebrow at the thug draws back the hammer of his revolver. "Wanna give it a try? I could use the practice."

The target definitely isn't moving now; he's frozen to the spot, his face gone white as the proverbial sheet. He doesn't look such a tough guy now. "You're crazy!"

"Nah, I'm just bad-tempered. Downright mean in fact, I live for teaching slimy punks like you a lesson. Now, are you gonna try to escape or are we just gonna stand here like this all day? Better make up your mind fast 'cause it's gettin' on for lunchtime and bein' hungry puts me in a really bad mood."

"Nuh uh! I ain't movin' a millimetre, no way!"

"You're no fun," Dee gripes. "I'll give you a five second head start…" He's a hundred percent certain he won't be taken up on his offer otherwise he wouldn't have made it.

Straight faced, Ryo holsters his gun and walks over to the youth, unhurried, almost casual. Grabbing him by the shoulder, he spins him to face the wall, makes him assume the position, and pats him down. The only thing he comes up with is a pocketknife, which he drops into an evidence bag just in case and slips into his own pocket before cuffing the guy and reading him his rights. After that it's just a case of propelling him back along the street to where he and Dee left their car. He's surprisingly cooperative. Dee quickly catches them up, after retrieving his spent slug from the wall. Thanks to Ryo he's getting to be a really good shot; it's no problem hitting what he aims at from such close range.

Arrest made with a minimum amount of fuss, and it's back to the precinct to question and book the guy. They already know he committed the crime, they have the CCTV footage to prove it, plus a positive ID from a witness who saw him fleeing the scene, but they have to follow procedure. Besides, the mood the youth's in now they might even get a confession; that couldn't hurt even if they don't actually need it.

They also have arrest reports to type up, and Dee has to fill in a form for discharging his firearm. He's pretty sure there won't be a problem about that; it was a single warning shot, it didn't put anyone in danger, unless you count the perp, and as much as Dee might have liked to, he wouldn't really have shot the guy. Not unless he'd been armed and shooting, either at them or at innocent bystanders. Dee might be a hothead, but he does have some restraint, and anyway, Ryo wouldn't have let him. Not that the bad guys out there need to know that. Better that they should believe Dee's fearsome reputation for being quick-tempered and even quicker on the trigger. He'd rather have them back down in abject fear than try their luck; there's a whole lot less hassle that way.

Yeah, having a badass reputation can be pretty handy. Nobody needs to know that underneath the tough guy act he's really just a big ol' pussycat. He's confident Ryo will never let on.

.

The End


End file.
